Conventional hand-held power tools have a drive shaft in the form of a drive spindle, the first ball bearing being situated in the area of a gear unit assigned to the power tool, e.g., a planetary gear that is located in a gear housing and in whose area a spindle lock is provided, which is assigned to the drive spindle, and the second ball bearing being situated in the area of a tool holder assigned to the power tool. Felt rings are provided between the first and second ball bearings, in order to prevent a hard impact of the drive spindle into the spindle lock when switching off such a power tool. These felt rings are disposed on the drive spindle in such a way that, to generate a drag torque by way of the gear housing, a prestress is produced on the spindle to thus reduce noise and wear during operation of the power tool.
A disadvantage is that the felt rings are comparatively costly, and also lead to a disturbing frictional force during normal operation or no-load operation of the power tool. This may result in an undesirable reduction in the service life of the power tool.